Archive for August, 2010

In my continuing search for a good Indian in Brussels, I enlisted the help of CouchSurfer foodlovers. A group of 7 of us tested the Bombay Inn on Tuesday. A few of our party were late to arrive, so the restaurant (which is small) filled up while we waited (and drooled over the menu). I highly recommend booking if you want a seat. It is near Rue des Bouchers and people flee to the side street to avoid the tourist traps… but is this just another one??
The waiter (and owner?) took our order quite quickly once the group was complete. It was complicated, with some of us choosing set menus and some of us selecting dishes. The restaurant was busy and he was alone, so we weren’t expecting speedy service. After 30mins he lit the candles in the food heaters and we got excited. We waited another half an hour for our food. Not only were people who arrived after us served before us, but when we asked about the delay, he informed us that ‘everybody is waiting that long’. Not the best customer management.
Still, when the food arrived, we were quite impressed. 2 of our company had been before, so we had fairly high expectations and I was not disappointed.

Chicken Bhoona

My chicken bhoona had a lovely heat to it, without destroying delicate flavours. The Pillou rice was devoured the minute the plate got to our table, so I have no photo, but it was served with cardamoms, raisins, cashew nuts and dried onion on top. We ordered more, then cancelled the order, but since it had already been prepared he gave it to us for free.
My fellow diners tested the madras (very hot), the rogan josh (a bit too tomatoey and not hot enough), the king prawn malai (very good, coconut cream sauce), and a spinach and cheese vegetarian dish (Palak Paneer). The naan (shown below) were really excellent, and a side lentil dish (daal) was also excellent.

Naan

The menus have starters included (which meant most of our party were not dying of hunger). they also get a tea at the end. He got mixed up on the teas too, so we got an extra free mint tea. I ordered Kulfi (coconut ice cream with cardamom and mango coulis). This was excellent and filled the small hole left from the food (portions definitely not as large as chez Kohinoor).
All in all, I enjoyed my evening. Its a small place, so feels intimate and noisy, and I’m told that waiting is part of the traditional indian experience.
However, I am also told that Sawad and Anarkali are both better… so watch this space!

Being British means that Indian food is as natural to me as fish and chips. I would not try to find good fish and chips in Brussels, so I had not tested any Indian restaurants. However, I have finally booked a trip to India this year and thought I should train my taste buds up a bit… so I started the search for a decent place. I actually went to Kohinoor back in June, but have been lagging on the blog. Kohinoor had good recommendations online and in newspaper clippings in their window. I don’t think the reviewers had gone in summer. We were the only people in the restaurant (though a couple turned up to collect the take away they had ordered). The waiter quite clearly felt he had better things to do than take care of us and I have never felt so much ‘in the way’ in a restaurant. That said, the food was good, the servings were very generous, and he packed up our leftovers to go. A restaurant I would recommend for takeaway!

The chicken korma was creamy, and served with good rice. The naan wasnt crispy enough for me… a bit too chewy.
The lamb biryani also had good rice, was spicy enough and had other veggies in it, as well as the vegetables in sauce on the size, that were very good. I ate all the veggies and sauce and so only took the rice home with me, but that was a good snack on my train to amsterdam the next day.

The restaurant is large and has an outdoor terrace. maybe I should try again on a popular day… and there is another branch of the resto that someone said was better….
to be continued…Kohinoor
Rue Vanderkindere 232
1180 Uccle